I failed Exam MLC the first time.  I’m ok with that as the pass rate is about 30% as first time passers seem to be Act. Sci. TAs whose tenure depends on such things.  I have a job and have once again overcommitteed myself in Scouting and sometimes hope that glutton is added to the three Gs of gay, gal and godless which provide reasons for eviction so I can take care of some things, putting multiple choice tests behind me being one of them.  Seeing my time dwindle preparing for the Klondike Derby I reached a state of calm regarding my impending failure, much like the driver who removes his hands from the wheel upon realizing his car has broached the edge of cliff or the accountant that straightens his die when he realizes he’s outmatched in a Tiajuana Standoff.  I’m being periodically hit by bolts of inspiration whereas suddenly the undefined expected value of the Cauchy distribution makes sense or I predict the success rate of children crossing a busy street by constructing an impromptu Markov Chain, although I assume once the first child was hit by a cement truck the distribution ceased to be stationary.  I’ve slept well, and see reality pass me like the river to a rock, knowing it will eventually be worn down to sand.  I’m not getting angry about people who ride the right lane approaching a constriction and merely chucked with the fellow from housekeeping threw out my unfinished lunch having stepped away to get more pepper.  And then, I found the piece that brought it all together:

Via Somethingawful.com, by CosmicDNA

Via Somethingawful.com, by CosmoDNA

No matter what happens, I’m still better off than Paul Granger, pseudo-writer of children’s fiction.  Although it would be a spot funny if an actuary wrote Choose Your Own Adventures.  Especially if it started with a personality profile upon which the approximate path take could be guessed and the path would be strewn with “I knew you were going to go this way” and “really, this way?  I must have given you too much credit”.  That’s the kind of loathing can be reduced and used as pancake syrup it’s so thick and rich.

Well, let’s shrug that whole thing off with what I think is the most amazing video on the Supreme Court ever:

Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Is ‘Totally Badass’

Item by item review of 2008 Resolutions

1) Pass another actuarial exam – Fail
2) Complete new Ockanickon page – Win
3) Learn how to make a yule log (food, not combustible) – Win
4) Remove all dead skin from feet – Win
5) Find job as actuary that doesn’t involve moving to Pittsburgh – Fail
6) Re-arrange room and set-up new treadmill arrangement – Epic Win
7) “Box” assistant camp director knowledge – Slow Fail
8 ) Scan important documents and old photos – Photo Fail, Documents Win

Site specific goals:
1) Cover a logical fallacy every-other week, Fail but my end game’s changed with the fork between suburbanadventure.com and logicwarrior.net
2) Post Daily Highlights within 48 hours 80% of the time – Win, even through camp
3) Complete 5 Projects or Joe Baloke trips – Fail, I’ve moved away from using a fake person.  I’ve embraced transparency on the web and use terryrobinson as my username for just about every new service I join with exception of games
4) Add back-log of pictures to Flickr – Abandoned, Flickr no longer my photo backup solution

2009 Resolutions

  1. Pass another actuarial exam
  2. Run a rippin’ Klondike Derby
  3. Get an actuarial job that doesn’t involve moving to Pittsburg
  4. Scan family photos
  5. Create online version of at least 3 merit badges
  6. Drop a hobby
  7. Get Logicwarrior.net up and running (vague, I know, but I’m not sure how to detail this)
  8. Learn PHP, MySQL, CSS or develop competence in a programming language

Maintained Goals

  1. Continue posting here near daily
  2. Continue treadmilling 10-12 miles a week
  3. Continue keeping up with world news
  4. Continue pursuing value

I’ve always been a proponent of small actionable resolutions and here are my 10.

1) Pass another actuarial exam
2) Complete new Ockanickon page
3) Learn how to make a yule log (food, not combustible)
4) Remove all dead skin from feet
5) Find job as actuary that doesn’t involve moving to Pittsburgh
6) Re-arrange room and set-up new treadmill arrangement
7) “Box” assistant camp director knowledge
8 ) Scan important documents and old photos

Site specific goals:
1) Cover a logical fallacy every-other week
2) Post Daily Highlights within 48 hours 80% of the time
3) Complete 5 Projects or Joe Baloke trips
4) Add back-log of pictures to Flickr.

What’s your resolution(s)